Biju Janata Dal corners UPA Govt. for step-motherly attitude towards Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Apr. 26 (ANI): Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said the Biju Janata Dal has called for a peaceful 'hartal' through out the state against the Centre's continuous negligence.

"The Biju Janata Dal has called for a peaceful hartal throughout our state because of the continuous negligence of the Central Government to Odisha's demands," he told the media in Bhubaneswar.

Power, water supply, health service, examinations in schools and colleges have been kept out of the purview of the 'hartal'

The supporters and activists of the Biju Janata Dal took out a protest here. They demonstrated on the roads, stopped vehicles and disrupted the train services.

The irate protestors also lashed out at the Centre for not paying heed to the demands made by the Odisha Government, and raised slogans against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Manmohan Singh-led Central Government.

All the shops in the city were closed.

Odisha MLA Ashok Chandra Panda lashed out at the ruling Congress party and warned the UPA Government to fulfill the demands of people.

"Our legitimate demand, legitimate right have been neglected by the Congress Government at Centre. So, this strike is protest by people of Odisha and by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has stood for the cause of Odisha and for the poor people of Odisha. So, we are protesting," said Panda.

"And this is a warning signal to the UPA Government that you must make the commitment to people of Odisha and acknowledge the legitimate demand of Odisha for according a special status to the state," he added.

Meanwhile, the Biju Janata Dal activists also raised this issue in the national capital. The activists staged a protest outside the Parliament here and demanded the Centre to give a special category status to Odisha.

BJD lawmaker Bhartruhari Mahtab said that the amounted allotted by Central Government Odisha was insufficient.

"We have demanded to declare Odisha as a special category state. The amount that has been allotted very recently declared is a pittance. They have only allotted 250 crore rupees per annum for another four years, which is not sufficient and that also goes against the interest of development of Odisha," he said. (ANI)